Marion golf opens up with sweep

Marion golf opens up with sweep

There is such a thing as a “good bogey” in golf. In a sudden death playoff, Conner Catt, with ice water in his veins, showed his teammates what one looks like.

On Friday, Marion, Trumann, and Palestine-Wheatley, faced off for an early-season match.

The Patriots swept all categories by taking the team and individual titles.

Trumann Country Club’s primary course defense is its postage stamp-sized greens. Not only are they small but all of them feature false fronts and runoffs on every side.

Sophomore, Sydney Massengale, took the honors as the girls’ individual medalist by shooting a 9hole score of 52. Sydney acknowledged that she could have shot lower if she had been a bit more careful on the greens.

Overall, she was pleased with her effort.

The boys’ team won the title with sophomore Jacob Kohl tallying onto Catt’s score to defeat second place Palestine-Wheatley by 12 strokes. The real drama unfolded in Catt’s playoff for medalist honors against Palestine’s Jebb Smith. On the first playoff hole, Smith led off with a drive right down the middle of number 1. Catt let his drive fly but drew it left and out of bounds.

Taking the penalty stroke and going back to the tee to strike his third shot, he powered a drive 50 yards past his opponent. In what looked like an easy victory, Smith sent his short iron onto the apron of the green. Faced with a 40yard pitch and in a situation where Catt must get up-and –down, he sent the shot to within 8 feet.

Smith failed to get his shot into gimme range and walked away with a bogey. Catt confidently drilled his putt into the center of the cup. The playoff continued to hole 2. Catt made short work of his rattled opponent and took the title with a nifty par against Palestine’s bogey.

This match serves as a warm-up and confidence booster for the invitational match at Mountain Home on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The Patriots are coming off a year in which they were expected to slump after losing their 3 senior leaders from last year. Two of last year’s starters, Cain Kaiser and Cameron Kohl, were allstate selections; both Kohl and Taylor Edmonds will be playing at the collegiate level this year. However, this year’s young team, which sports two juniors and four sophomores among its top 6 golfers, have not broken stride.

They should continue to make progress and mount a competitive charge for a state title next year. This year, the team’s goal is to place in the top three at the state tournament.

By The Evening Times Sports Staff